


Keep Breathing

by stardropdream



Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: F/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-19
Updated: 2013-02-19
Packaged: 2017-11-29 19:06:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/690409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardropdream/pseuds/stardropdream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's raining, and she's waiting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep Breathing

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on LJ December 25, 2009. 
> 
> Written in response to the prompt, "spring showers".

When he turned the corner and saw her, he nearly tripped over himself in his haste to get to her side, the umbrella lifting to cover her head.   
  
“It’s the zashiki-warashi,” he said, looking concerned. “Hello!”   
  
She jumped, whipping her head around, damp from the light sprinkling of rain, her eyes wide and almost fearful. She let out a small squeak of surprise and nearly stumbled back to try and put distance between the two of them, but she was too distracted by the umbrella above her head.  
  
She looked up at it.  
  
Watanuki rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I don’t know if spirits can catch colds, but it’d be bad if you got wet and cold while it’s raining, right?”   
  
Her face exploded into bright red and she nearly fainted. She sputtered out some words she was unable to say and ducked her head, trying to breathe easy and failing. She swallowed thickly, and lifting her head to peek at him through her wet fringe, the zashiki-warashi felt her heart flutter and stop completely for a moment.   
  
And then he smiled at her, apologetic and light. She had to whip her face away, sputtering some more.   
  
“H-hello,” she whispered, and silently congratulated herself on not running away this time when he smiled at her.   
  
The downside to this, of course, was seeing his smile widen, and his eyes soften. “What are you doing out here. Are you here to see Yuuko-san?”  
  
She shook her head, felt her heart flutter again. “N-no… I… I, um… that is… I wanted… I w-wa… um…”   
  
He was patient—what a good person he was—and waited for her to manage to speak properly.   
  
But it was too much. Her knees were knocking together and her body was shaking from the combined effort of the cold and her timidity. She licked her dry lips, tried to summon the words, tried to tell him—to tell him—  
  
 _I wanted to see you._  
  
But it was too much.   
  
“I’m sorry!” she cried out as she turned on her heel and dashed away, her hands clenched over her heart and her face too bright a red to be healthy. She turned the corner and breathed out a sigh of relief, feeling less constricted now that she was further away from him—and yet she mourned the distance.   
  
She pressed against the wall of a building, her eyes clenched shut and feeling the color slowly recede from her face. When she opened her eyes again, she looked up at the clouds, where the summer rain showered down at her.


End file.
